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Chapter 114: War Reports Can Lie
🕑 Added 2025-01-11 04:36:56 +0000 UTCCharlot Mecklenburg spoke slowly, “If anyone else wants to voice a differing opinion, feel free to stand up courageously.”
“I was impulsive just now!”
“I promise it won’t happen again.”
The battlefield fell silent.
Charlot displayed erratic moods and was prone to killing at the slightest provocation.
Who would dare to believe that?
Charlot let out a breath of relief. If someone truly had the guts to stand up and oppose him, he honestly wouldn’t know what to do. After all, when he killed just now, he had indeed been in a fit of rage.
Charlot thought he might have developed some form of “post-battle bloodlust syndrome” due to the war he had just endured. Now that his emotions had stabilized, he was certain he wouldn’t lose control again.
With no objections from the defeated forces of the Yahoo Knights, Charlot’s reorganization of the troops proceeded surprisingly smoothly. Following his method of assigning fifty fighters to each battle squad, he managed to assemble nearly 200 squads this time.
Charlot intentionally left some squads underfilled, feeling that this gave them a certain “imperfect beauty.”
However, he made exceptions for himself, Dubin Alger, Yellow Bear, Dolores Soumet, and Frederica. Each of their direct squads was filled to the maximum of 200 members, comprising robust warriors with exceptional skills.
Just as Charlot was finishing his reorganization, noise erupted from the direction of the previous battle. Within half an hour, Dubin arrived, riding his Argento horse with an energetic expression, escorting over 2,000 captives.
Charlot was dumbfounded and couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t I tell you not to engage in premature combat?”
“And why does it look like there wasn’t much fighting at all?”
Dismounting his Argento horse, Dubin shouted, “These are just ordinary farmers forced to fight. As soon as we approached, they surrendered.”
“What should we do with this batch of South Seraph restorationists?”
Charlot thought to himself, “How should I know?” But despite his inner grumbles, he acted according to “procedure” and scattered the over 2,000 South Seraph restorationists among various battle squads.
With the addition of these captives, the West Wind Knights’ battle squads grew to 260 or 270, and their numbers swelled to over 10,000.
Charlot questioned the captured South Seraph restorationists and learned why two armies had entered Fars Empire’s territory to fight.
It turned out that Baron Fille, hoping to ambush a key stronghold in South Seraph territory, had bypassed Fars’ approval to traverse its land. However, the baron had a South Seraph lover, who, risking her life, leaked the invasion plans.
The South Seraph restorationists quickly dispatched an army to intercept them, knowing that the farmers’ combat strength was weak. They had enlisted the help of Byron mercenaries to bolster their forces.
Charlot felt no sympathy for Baron Fille. The enmity between the Behemoth Principality and South Seraph territory was irreconcilable. For a noble like Baron Fille to not only take a South Seraph lover but also let her gain access to his military plans was truly deserving of death.
Charlot even mused that if he found the baron’s body, he would erect a gravestone inscribed with:
“Baron Fille: Fell victim to his own folly by divulging military intelligence to his South Seraph mistress…”
“Future generations might marvel at the baron’s stupidity. I can’t comprehend it either and can only attribute it to a defect in his intelligence!” Charlot resolved to ensure this baron’s “immortality in infamy.”
Under Charlot’s command, the West Wind Knights gathered supplies from the two armies’ baggage trains, prioritizing his “old subordinates.” He also dispatched a squad with severed enemy heads to Strasbourg to report their victory, while continuing to march toward the Behemoth Principality.
That night, reality gave Charlot Mecklenburg, also known as Huang Haisheng, a harsh lesson. His indiscriminate recruitment of troops posed a significant risk. About 2,000 men fled under the cover of darkness.
Charlot hurriedly initiated a round of “motivational speeches” and another reorganization. Yet by the time they stopped for lunch the next day, another 300 had escaped. Regretfully, Charlot abandoned further attempts to “treat” the issue.
Though Charlot considered retreating to Machubi Fortress and converting the deserters into NPCs, he dismissed the idea. Even with the supplies taken from the Yahoo Knights and South Seraph restorationists, the resources were insufficient to sustain the now-bloated West Wind Knights for long.
The area around Machubi lacked villages capable of providing sufficient food. Any back-and-forth maneuvering would likely lead not just to desertion but to complete collapse.
The only consolation was that Charlot had distributed supplies to his old subordinates, leaving the deserters virtually empty-handed. They took nothing with them.
After annihilating Byron’s cavalry, Charlot had also gathered over 100 warhorses. He assigned 20 to Dubin, training him as a professional scout. He allocated a few to Dolores Soumet, Yellow Bear, and Frederica’s squads. The remainder he kept for his personal squad, forming a rudimentary cavalry unit.
After more than ten days of continuous marching, the West Wind Knights finally entered Behemoth Principality.
Despite losing many along the way, with only about 6,000 men remaining, Charlot’s dream of commanding a grand army was largely shattered. The good news was that desertion had dropped significantly within the Principality’s borders, reaching a manageable level.
Charlot’s orders were vague: he was to support the Behemoth Principality without any specific instructions. Once inside, he sent word to Grand Duke Franz Joseph while submitting a “war report.”
In Charlot’s report, the Yahoo Knights had been wiped out by the South Seraph restorationists, and he had repelled the South Seraph forces, killing hundreds.
As for his incorporation of the Yahoo Knights and the surrender of the South Seraph restorationists? He mentioned none of it. Instead, he emphasized that his force of over 10,000 men had suffered heavy losses, leaving fewer than 6,000, and requested replenishment of supplies, manpower, and even a garrison. Charlot made every conceivable demand.
Confident that the feudal lords of this backward medieval era didn’t value intelligence accuracy, Charlot believed his lies would go unnoticed.
After all…
What did it matter? War was inherently chaotic.
Charlot wasn’t concerned about the Grand Duke Franz Joseph turning against him, a mere knight of the Fars Empire.
Days later, Charlot received not a letter from the Grand Duke but one from the Duchess.
The letter explained that Franz Joseph, consumed by the desire to avenge his uncle, had deployed all the Principality’s forces to launch a frenzied assault on South Seraph territory. He was at the front lines and wouldn’t receive any reports for days, let alone respond to them.
The Duchess also denied the West Wind Knights access to Mostar Castle, the Principality’s capital, assigning Charlot’s troops to garrison at none other than Baron Fille’s Silver Dove Castle.
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